They are lawfully authoritative similarly that bargains are. In spite of inquiries regarding the lawfulness of official assentions, in 1937 the Supreme Court decided that they had an indistinguishable power from settlements. Since official assentions are made on the expert of the officeholder president, they don't really tie his successors.
The colonists were represented by delegates, but the battles of Concord and Lexington show that they were willing to take matters into their own hands if necessary.
